Roberta Cucca

The Unexpected Consequences of Sustainability. Green Cities Between Innovation and Ecogentrification

The definition of sustainable development clearly requires the integration of the economic, ecological and social impacts of the development. While scholars and practitioners have mainly focused their studies on environmental protection and green management, the social pillar in the concept of sustainable development has been on the research agenda to a more limited extent. Within this framework, the main aim of the present article is to highlight the relevance of an integrated approach to sustainability, in order to avoid possible trade-off mechanisms between the different dimensions of the concept, in the processes both of policy design and of policy implementation. In particular, through the analysis of two case studies – Vancouver (Canada) and Copenhagen (Denmark) – the investigation focuses on the urban policies promoted in these two contexts, under the brand of “sustainable city”. This promotion was carried out through the organization of big international conferences or expositions about sustainability, the promotion of tools of environmental management in the field of waste management and mobility, and the enhancement of green areas. As a general result, both Vancouver and Copenhagen have attracted strategic economic and social resources such as talent, real estate investment, and international events; however these programmes seem to have also promoted a strong increase in the cost of housing, fostering a general process of “ecogentrification” by the replacement of the urban population and the emergence of new inequalities among different social groups. Finally, taking in to account the case of Vienna, some possible examples of strategies to create a more balanced principle of urban sustainability are presented.

Social mix and housing policy: Local effects of a misleading rhetoric. The case of Milan

The article focuses on different uses of the concept of social mix and on emerging criticalities of its use as a planning principle by discussing the results of empirical research on recent housing projects in Milan, Italy. Although the concept of social mix is generally represented as a tool to improve the living conditions of disadvantaged social groups, the praise for social mix in new housing projects may also be driven by the will of targeting the needs of specific medium–low income groups considered functional to urban growth, and by the increase of real estate values that it may provide. In urban contexts affected by a severe shortage of rental housing, social mix strategies may foster the exclusion of lowest-income groups from access to social housing and favour their segregation. Especially with reference to southern European cities, social mix risks becoming a catchword with paradoxical effects in local policy agendas and the topic of mixed communities becoming employed as a socio-political lever for developer-led, profit-making developments.

Tradeoffs and entanglements among sustainability dimensions: the case of accessibility as a missing pillar of sustainable mobility policies in Italy.

Abstract This article analyzes the tradeoffs between the environmental and social dimensions in sustainable mobility policies. We focus on the Italian context, where car dependency is a particularly prominent feature of the transportation system. During the past decade, many local administrations have promoted policies to foster more “sustainable mobility” as a way to manage congestion and reduce environmental pollution. However, these initiatives have often missed an important sustainability pillar: improving the accessibility of the most vulnerable to economic and social resources. This issue may have implications for social justice because access to mobility is an important dimension of inequality. A proposed framework identifies some possible tradeoffs related to sustainable mobility policies, concerning medium- to long-range mobility and short-range mobility. The article argues that, paradoxically, policies fostering mobility may lead to environmental pollution (e.g., low cost airlines), and that policies to contain the environmental impacts of mobility may harm social justice (e.g., environmental taxation) in the absence of strong promotion of collective transportation. Finally, we analyze possible solutions to reach sustainable accessibility.

The Hidden Unwanted: Patterns of Immigrants’ Marginality in Copenhagen (Denmark) and Milan (Italy)

Over the past decade, in Europe the attention of scholars, as well as the focus of the political debate on the ‘urban social cohesion’, has become increasingly oriented to the issue of immigrants’ spatial segregation. This concern has gradually led to the promotion of urban policies oriented to fight against the residential segregation on ethnic basis, although the effects of residential concentration per se and social inclusion are not clearly identified, and minor attention has been devoted to understand and fight against the casual factors leading immigrants to occupy the most residual part of the social and physical urban space. By proposing a comparative analysis of two urban contexts – Copenhagen, Milan – that are different in terms of immigrants’ presence and legal status, as well as labour market integration and general welfare regime, the study explores some mechanisms promoting the social and spatial marginalization of immigrants in Europe. It also analyses the most important urban policies dealing with residential segregation, evaluating their capacity of facing the phenomenon or promoting (unexpected) negative consequences.

The Relationships Between Local and National Childcare Policies – A Comparison of Nordic and Southern European Cities

We start by comparing the childcare systems in the 11 European cities, looking particularly at whether the childcare provision in these cities follows national provision levels or not. We then focus on analyzing the relationships between local and national childcare policies in four European cities: Bologna (Italy) and Terrassa (Spain) from Southern Europe, and Jyvaskyla (Finland) and Aalborg (Denmark) from the Nordic countries. The availability and use of childcare services are analyzed, as are other factors influencing the possibilities and obstacles of labour market participation for mothers with young children. The aim of this analysis is to demonstrate the significance of local welfare systems in their socio-cultural context and to understand the scope that local authorities have to draft local policies and thus to divert from national policy definitions. Local policy making also brings rigid welfare regime categories into question.

Neoliberalismo, migrazioni e segregazione spaziale. politiche abitative e mix sociale nei casi europeo e italiano

Partendo da un discorso generale sull’ambiguo rapporto tra politiche neoliberali, questione abitativa e segregazione in Europa, prendiamo in considerazione il caso italiano, esaminando in primo luogo le caratteristiche del welfare abitativo per metterne in luce le variabili rilevanti nella spiegazione dei fenomeni di segregazione. Ci focalizziamo infine sul caso milanese, con un’analisi dei processi di segregazione e delle limitate e ambivalenti risposte pubbliche, interpretate sempre alla luce del discorso neoliberale sulla citta impostosi negli ultimi anni.

Urban Economic Specialization and Women’s Integration into the Labour Market in 11 European Cities

This chapter identifies some urban economy patterns in Europe, highlighting the effects of local production systems on the women’s integration into the labour market and, conversely, the impact of the participation of women on the competitiveness of the local economy. In particular the aim is to focus on how the economic specialization of a city affects both the quantity and the quality of jobs available to women. This is an innovative comparative analysis for Europe at the urban level. The chapter first investigates how some features of urban economic specialization (for example, manufacturing, services, agriculture and construction) advantage or disadvantage women’s employment. The second question is related to the process of horizontal segregation of women in the labour market. Finally, the chapter focuses on the effects of the current economic crisis on women’s employment and some future perspectives.

Milan: A City Lost in the Transition from the Growth Machine Paradigm Towards a Social Innovation Approach

Milan can be described as a city lost in transition. For more than two decades, Milan has been ruled by a system of strongly market-oriented governance, following the rhetoric that creating a “good business climate” is an effective way to not only foster growth and innovation but also eradicate poverty and deliver higher standards of living. This approach has led to: (a) a disinvestment in welfare services directly provided by the municipality, in favour of a more residual welfare system based on non-profit and private involvement; (b) a huge investment in neo-liberal tools of government for the economic development of the city, such as the promotion of international events (Expo 2015) and large real estate investments through public–private partnerships. After some scandals as well as a huge increase of social inequalities, municipal elections rewarded a new coalition following a style of governance oriented to a social innovation approach. However, the difficult financial situation of the municipality has reduced ambitions of the current government.

Città europee nella rete globale

This paper considers various types of social impact from the economic growth process experienced by several European urban systems, shortly before the spread of the crises still in progress. The collection opens with an essay that transversally analyses several mechanisms that show economic growth and social inequality as connected or disconnected to one other. This line of thought is further developed by reconstructing four cases of more specific study (Barcelona, Copenhagen, Lyon and Monaco) that describe contexts that are similar because they play a certain central economic role in their respective national contexts and hold powerful transnational positions, but which belong to different welfare models. A portrait emerges marked by several common features and many points of differentiation, confirming the initial hypothesis, i.e., the importance of examining development models for cities.

Sviluppo e disuguaglianze. Monaco, Barcellona, Copenhagen e Lione a confronto

This essay reconsiders and reanalyses the results of research carried out in four European cities (Monaco, Barcelona, Copenhagen and Lyon) on the social impact of the economic growth process, as well as potential tensions and trade-offs between the mechanisms of social reproduction and competitiveness of urban systems, till shortly before the 2009 financial and economic. In particular, this article restores several essential elements relative to four aspects of the analysis: policies for attracting flows of investment, goods, and people, and for safeguarding and enhancing local liveability; the impacts of economic development models on conditions of social inequality; the policies, the housing market and the affirmation of various lines of spatial division; and the integration of immigrants into the economic and social fabric of the cities.